Music
Press
"If Gang of Four had met and reproduced with My Bloody Valentine, and if their super fucked-up kids had been raised on The Beatles and Guided By Voices and had managed to live long enough without killing themselves to make a record, the result might sound a lot like Hotel St. George." - www.ampeatermusic.com
"What you will get are hook-laden ditties which seem to draw upon early '80s English post-punk for inspiration. Binder's vocal delivery are a welcome throwback to that era, making a tune like "Apples & Pears" downright XTC-esque."
"These boys can truly pen a catchy tune. The woo-woos of "All Those Dancing Stars" or the buh-buh of the sunny party pop "Island Man" will reel you in and keep you hooked. I defy you to resist singing along to the closing refrain of "Good In the Bad" or nodding your head to the drumbeat of "Jealous Boys".
"City Boy Lemon is one heck of a debut. I'm already anticipating the next one."
- www.snobsmusic.net
"City Boy Lemon is the band’s most mature effort yet. Its greatest asset is its ability to genre-hop while remaining true to their core sound. " - www.sdcitybeat.com
"San Diego indie rockers Hotel St. George are the type of band that we love. They're exciting, they play fun music, and they doing it all on their own terms. " - www.strandedinstereo.com
"The songs on City Boy Lemon are so irresistibly catchy they will be worming their way through your ears for weeks. My personal favorite is the song “Island Boy.Its just damn good pop. If you told me Andy Partridge wrote this gem, I’d probably believe you, it is that fucking good. " - www.melodygeek.com
"Singer Matt Binder's grandiose inflection hints at Bowie or Davies and a dramatic, frantic delivery recalls the tamer moments of Spencer Krug, but the effect is all his own. " - www.sdentertainer.com
"Let their reviews speak for themselves; reviews on City Boy Lemon (first full length album, released in ‘09) are as impressive as the music itself. Across the board, even the most discriminating connoisseurs are smitten with HSG’s latest release."
- NBC San Diego
"City Boy Lemon' is brimming with songs that'll grab hold of your hippocampus and cling on for dear life. " - Devil Has the Best Tuna Blog
"After listening to this album on repeat; I can stand behind it and say I'm confident that it will be one of the best albums of the year!"
- http://sdmusik.blogspot.com
Best of 2009: roots music
We're going to be casting a pretty wide net when we speak of roots music. For the purposes of this list we're including country, folk, and Americana.
Without further ado, here's our top roots albums of 2009:
20. The Holy Open Secret- Hoots & Hellmouth (review)
19. Sara Watkins- Sara Watkins (review)
18. Let's Just Stay Here- Carolyn Mark & NQ Arbuckle
17. Tight Knit- Vetiver (review)
16. Saxon- Wax Mannequin (review)
15. Lost Channels- Great Lake Swimmers (review)
14. Keeps You Up When You're Down- The Perms
13. Monsters of Folk- Monsters of Folk (review)
12. Hazards of Love- The Decemberists
11. Changing Horses- Ben Kweller (review)
10. Carpenter Bird- David Wax Museum (review)
9. 1372 Overton Park- Lucero (review)
8. Mercury In Songbirds- Patrick Brealey (review)
7. City Boy Lemon- Hotel St George (review)
6. ...Makes Ghost Noises- Dog Is Blue (review)
5. Here Anonymous- Eulogies (review)
4. Outer South- Conor Oberst & the Mystic Valley Band (review)
3. The O'Darling- The O'Darling (review)
2. Country Club- John Doe & the Sadies (review)
1. At the Moment of Our Most Needing...- Rock Plaza Central (review)
- snobsmusic.net
Discography
• Yippee!!! EP 2008: The song 'Watch Out' is being featured on the video game MLB 2K10.
• Hundreds & Thousands EP 2008: The song "The Summation" was featured in the movie 'Green Jewelery'
• City Boy Lemon LP 2009: Released in August and had songs featured on the Mtv show The City
• Fun Shine Line LP due in Spring of 2010
• We've received airplay on local FM stations FM 94/9, 91X and KPRI as well as internet stations WOXY, Indie Pop Rocks, and Various college stations.
Photos
Bio
Living as transplants in San Diego, containing members from across the United States and England, Hotel St. George formed to create a unique blend of influences from British-invasion, Garage, Shoegaze, Pop and Psychedelic Rock. From their first show at a sold-out Casbah to sharing the stage with such acts as Avi Buffalo, White Rabbits, Hockey, The Virgins, Louis XIV, and The Soft Pack the boys of Hotel St. George continue to impress.
Earning three nominations at the San Diego Music Awards, features in several San Diego music publications, and various radio spots have given Hotel St. George a major presence within the San Diego music scene. Outside of San Diego Hotel St George landed support for their first LP release City Boy Lemon with Los Angles based This Is Tightrope, an independent label who pressed 500 vinyl records which completely sold out within months.
Hotel St. George has been featured on BMI's national Indie artists page, repeatedly been covered by Vice Magazine sponsored music blog Grimy Goods, made both Snob Music and Sawkick media blogs list of top albums of 2009 and was awarded a song placement through SPIN magazine on the video game MLB 2k10 alongside such music legends as Pearl Jam, Phoenix, LCD Soundsystem, and Iggy Pop.
New York based music critic Ben Heller describes Hotel St. George's sound as, “If Gang of Four had met and reproduced with My Bloody Valentine, and if their super fucked-up kids had been raised on The Beatles and Guided By Voices and had managed to live long enough without killingthemselves to make a record, the result might sound a lot like Hotel St. George." This along with variety of positive critical acclaim has really driven Hotel St. George to continue to create music and share it with the world. We are excited to release our second LP entitled Funshine Line and to tour throughout the West Coast this spring to support it. It is our strongest production to date and please enjoy listening to some of our favorite tracks on the record.
Links
